


The Bleak

by lionor



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-26 18:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/968823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionor/pseuds/lionor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mysterious force holds captive the Enterprise and the mind of someone the crew holds most dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bleak

The phaser felt leaden-heavy in Kirk’s hands, and his eyes felt like they were burning. 

“Captain,” panted Spock, eyes dark with emotion, “if you do not act now, the Enterprise runs the risk of being pulled into the gravitational field. Mr. Chekov is compromised.”

“Dammit, Spock, he’s got to be in there somewhere!” interjected Bones. “Jim, you can’t just blast holes in one of our own!”

Sulu’s face was empty. “It’s not Chekov in there anymore. He’s going to wreck the entire ship.”

Kirk tried to shut out the pleas and suggestions of the rest of his crew and focused on the situation at hand. Something was controlling the ensign, and Bones had tried everything to save him. The Russian was beyond insanity, and the ship was in dire straights. And Kirk was the one with the phaser. 

“Ensign. Mr. Chekov. Pavel. Please tell me you understand what I’m saying.” Kirk tried one last time before setting the phaser to kill. And then he saw

_Pavel getting off the Enterprise in three year’s time, kissing a girl, both grinning and near tears._

_Pavel a lieutenant commander_

_Pavel getting married, his mother smiling through sobs, a pack of little siblings throwing flowers at the glittering bride_

_Pavel on the bridge, eyes alight with some interesting fact, gleefully recounting something’s Russian origins_

_Pavel a father_

_Pavel a grandfather_

_Pavel dead, grand and old_

And then Kirk’s eyes flicked to the other crew members. He pictured them dead on impact of the planet. Saw Scotty’s lifeblood drain away, Spock’s broken body barely clinging to life, Sulu’s mangled corpse, Chekov crushed and lifeless, Bones spread-eagled and bleeding, Uhura dead with beautiful hair charred. Nothing would come of sparing Chekov, not if he waited too long.

“Chekov!” One last chance. 

And suddenly the fell glow in the ensign’s eyes vanished momentarily. “Keptain,” he gasped. “I do not know vat eet ees, but zere is no way to stop it. You haf to…feenish it, sir. Feenish…” And suddenly he seized up and twisted, the thing back in his mind. 

Kirk looked back once more at his crew. Sulu and Scotty’s eyes were downcast, Spock and Bones both stared with tragedy written all over their faces. But Uhura gazed straight at Kirk. A tear leaked down her cheek, but she swiped it away and nodded at him. _Do it,_ she mouthed. _For him. For us. For our home._ And her face was so pitying and kind that his heart broke for at least the third time that hellish day.

Kirk blinked once, very long, and then in a single fluid movement spun and fired. Chekov’s body hit the deck with a thud, and the emergency lights stopped their garish flashing. 

“Resume stations. Take the body to medbay,” he barked curtly, as soon as he could trust his voice. 

The Enterprise got back on course, away from the dark planet that had taken their finest ensign. 

Operations returned to normal, but the crew did not feel right for a very long time. Bones drank more than ever, and Jim joined him more often than he would admit. Even Spock retained some of the hardness his voice and manner had taken hold when Vulcan was destroyed. Sulu spoke rarely, and Scotty seldom joked. 

Uhura, though grieving, was their rock, and one night, when they were all in the officers lounge, she sang a Russian folk song about a little birch tree. Everyone broke down, but after, the Enterprise didn’t feel quite so empty. As if maybe, like the little birch tree, they'd survive the bleak.


End file.
